Raikkonen crashes Ferrari into barriers in final minutes of Bahrain testing

Kimi Raikkonen crashed the Ferrari F14T with less than five minutes remaining on day four of the penultimate Formula 1 pre-season test in Bahrain.

Shortly after a red flag stoppage to retrieve Adrian Sutil’s stricken Sauber, Raikkonen was one of the first to leave the pits on cold tyres. Eyewitnesses claim that he climbed a curb, as he came on the power too early in Turn 4, whereupon he lost control and slammed the barriers destroying the left front and corner of the F14T.

The Finn was unharmed in the accident, which brought the final day to a premature end.

Kimi Raikkonen speaks to media at the end of day four in Bahrain

He said afterwards, “I spun, hit the wall and that is it.”

He later added, “I spun on the kerb at the exit of Turn 4, these things can happen! Luckily, it was right at the end of the day, I’m only sorry because it means the team now has more work to do.”

“These things happen so I wouldn’t say it’s my fault. We improved the settings a lot and it’s not too bad, but there’s a lot of torque in the car.”

Feedback from drivers, during the course of the tests, suggest that the V6 turbo Power Units deliver a huge amount of torque which can catch drivers out when they get on the throttle early.

Rookie Kevin Magnussen said after his two days of testing in Bahrain, “It really is a drivers’ car – more than the old ones. I think that’s great.” (GP247)